Blog

Maybe it’s because of what I was doing this time last year, but I’ve been asked by more people than ever who I’m supporting in the City Council elections. I’m voting for Brian Haynes, Keith Young and Rich Lee.
Why?
Brian Haynes is an Asheville native who has devoted a significant part of his life to the issue of affordable housing – not just policy wonk stuff, but actually building housing for low wealth families with Habitat for Humanity. He will bring an independent, local-centric, caring and reasonable voice to City...

Regardless of the partisan battles between the politicians, one undeniable result of the 2012 election is that cannabis won. The prohibition was challenged in five states, and it was defeated in three of them. In Massachusetts, medical cannabis earned 63% of the vote, while the winning presidential and senatorial candidates garnered 61% and 54%, respectively. In Colorado, marijuana legalization passed with more votes and a much wider margin that even President Barack Obama had over Mitt Romney. Only in Washington did the President get...

This weekend, October 26-27, 2012, is Moogfest in Asheville. It’s a great festival in downtown, with all sorts of electronic-based music being performed on stages throughout the city. Thousands of cool, groovy people will converge on the city, looking to enjoy the music, the people and the nightlife Asheville has to offer.
Another group of people will also descend on the town. This group is not so cool or groovy. They are officers with the Alcohol Law Enforcement Section of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, commonly...

In 2008, I agreed to represent Polk County NC activist Steve Marlowe, who faced charges for growing of medical cannabis for his former wife and fellow activist Jean Marlowe and two other patients. It was another one of those supposedly once-in-a-lifetime cases that have come my way.
This case wasn’t the Marlowes’ first brush with the law prohibiting marijuana. In fact, the Marlowes had been outspoken proponents of cannabis law reform for many years when I met them. In 1995, they held a “Freedom Rally” on the steps...

“Rascals in Paradise” is the title of collection of non-fiction short stories co-written by James Michener and U. of Hawaii professor Arthur Grove Day, published in 1957, and subtitled “Turbulent Adventures and Bold Courage on the South Seas.” It’s full of romantic tales of the adventurous men of questionable character who sailed the Pacific Ocean, such as Bully Hayes and Captain Bligh. I read it before moving to Saipan. My experience there in the 1990s wasn’t nearly as rough and tumble, but it...